Governments, businesses, financial institutions, and other goods and services providers provide high speed information transmitting services that enable users to rapidly access information, exchange information, and conduct business. The information transmission services include web applications, electronic mail, electronic file transfers, and other electronic services that enable users to electronically transmit vital information over electronic and optical transmission channels, resulting in millions of electronic transactions conducted every day. However, rapid development of methods and systems for transmitting information has also created an environment for malicious users to target governments, businesses, financial institutions, goods and services providers, and users. In particular, criminals, criminal organizations, terrorists, and adversarial governments have developed innovative devices, destructive routines, and computer programs (e.g., viruses, worms, and Trojan horses) for intercepting vital information transmitted over conventional transmission channels, stealing vital information and funds and eves dropping on users engaged in transactions.
As a result of the rise in these criminal activities, an electronic security (“e security”) industry has emerged. E-security companies develop computer programs to actively monitor computer-system content and to examine computer systems for potentially destructive routines and computer programs. Network-intrusion-detection applications and systems have been developed to monitor network traffic and to alert a system administrator when a malicious user is attempting to gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Complex algorithms based on cryptographic methods have been developed to encrypt data sent from one location and decrypt the data when the data is received at a receiving location.
Although computer programs and routines have been developed to prevent many kinds of malicious attacks on computer system users, designers, manufacturers, and users have been slow to develop hardware-based systems that prevent malicious attacks.